Mindy, Mehndi, coincidence? i think not.

My friend Emma once took me with her when she got her first tattoo... It was a simple (yet expensive as hell ) tattoo that consisted of nothing more than a black circle, with a crescent moon on either side. (something like this:

)O(

a simple pagan symbol to celebrate her dedication to her religion and to prove she wasn't one of those crazy girls from middle school who thought Harry Potter was a documentary, or swore they'd curse you with their "book of shadows" which was really just a diary they wrote dark poetry in.

Ever since then, (okay, even before then) i've wanted my own tattoo. But as expensive as they are, i just simply cannot afford one. (and even if i could, there's the weight issue... if i end up losing all this, i don't want that tattoo to look like pudding later on...)
One design i'd always had my heart set on, (and still do to this day!) Is a dragonfly. But not just any dragonfly... a henna dragonfly. (Why a dragonfly? Long story involving my grandfather and fairy tales... maybe later.)

Actually... (and it took a while to find o.O) THIS dragonfly.. is the one i want. I guess it's more tribal than henna.... but it's henna to me.

What is henna you ask? It's amazing. it's beautiful. it's cultural. and it's something i'm totally doing on my wedding night. (possibly part of the spa-night i mentioned in the last post!) That didn't explain much did it? well... let me go into detail, haha.

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(According to Wikipedia....)

Henna, by definition is... "a flowering plant used since antiquity to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather and wool."

(found the picture Here, but apparently the work is from Here.)

Used since the Bronze age (3300–1200 BC), to dye all sorts of materials -- everything from skin, hair, fingernails, wool, leather, cotton, etc. It's often ground into a paste (using either dried powder or fresh leaves) and placed in delicate and intricate patterns on the skin and left to dry anywhere from a few hours, to overnight. (the longer it's left to dry, usually determines how dark the pattern will be.). Depending on several variables (Skin type, quality of the henna used, amount of time left to dry, etc., etc., etc....) can determine how long the henna will last. This can vary anywhere between a few days, to an entire month!

Areas of the world (most likely the ones that grew it naturally... like the Jews, the Muslims, Hindus, Christians, and Soraoastrians -- among others) often celebrated marriages by adorning the bride (and sometimes the groom) with intricate Henna patterns and designs.

(It's been said that the Mother or Mother-in-law of the bride -- among her bridesmaids -- will decorate the bride, hiding her name in Hindi somewhere on her body. The couple are then not allowed to consummate the marriage until the groom has found her name. (I'm guessing this is to help with foreplay, but who knows, haha.)

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Mehndi -- as it's also called -- is an amazing art form practiced for hundreds of years and honestly, is something i completely, without a shadow of a doubt, know I want to do for my wedding. It's extremely gorgeous, extremely earthy, and completely something i'd do. (and have done... i had a kit once i bought for a friend's birthday party and we did Henna all night. It was a ton of fun even if it didn't last very long... but eh, we were beginners, and the kit was old. haha.. actually i think i still have some left o.O)

But yeah. The process is simple enough and you can find tons of sites to buy the kits and powder and tools from. Just google it a bit and you'll be overflowing with Henna supplies. (and it's super cheap too! Kudos!)

--Cake42